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The Sox trio of Beckett, Lester and Dice-K are the best in baseball. When your #4 starter is Brad Penny that speaks volumes of your depth. Penny was a solid signing by Theo. If Penny bounces back and pitches like he can, Boston will be rewarded. I think having Beckett around will help Penny, of course there pals from there Fish days down in South Florida. The Yankees gave Burnett 80 million…guranteed. Penny will probably win more games than Burnett and have a lower e.r.a. as well. What team made there dollar stretch? These type of signings are the way too go when it comes too pitching. Let’s face it, most big name free agent pitchers bomb!

Still snowing??? So sorry. lol. My parents got over a foot of snow in N.H.

A tad cool today, low 70’s. Wind chill factor is 68. LOL!!

Watching games at the old Garden was GREAT! You were on top of the action. What I miss most about the Garden…The obstructed view seats, sitting right behind a pole. Also sitting under the balcony, a Robert Parrish rainbow shot would dissapear if you sat underneath the balcony. I loved that place.

You are going too fast with some of these “strand replacements!” Give us a chance to chat, before you “shift gears!”

Hey! BosoxBrian!

It will be interesting to track the progress of Burnett vs. Penny this year. Both former Fish who wound up in the AL East. Wouldn’t it be poetic justice if the Sox got more from that comparison this year than the Yanks did?!?!?!?!?

I am in agreement with you about how Penny and Burnett will do. Even if Burnett has a great year ( highly unlikely ) they are stuck with him because of there long term investment in him. Alot more pressure on Burnett in 2009 than Penny. Penny is the #4 starter and doesn’t have the burden of a HUGE contract on his shoulders. Over the years, long term contracts ( free agents ) too pitchers are not the way too go. I’ll say Penny wins 14-16 games and have an e.r.a. around 3.50. Penny knows if he has a solid year he’ll get a nice contract coming his way!

I’ll take some of that snow–just put it on our front lawn, no one else in the neighborhood wants it! ;)
Maybe these short strands will be for the good–it might keep Dben’s comments more PITHY!
I agree with Brian on Beckett and Lester; should be the best two-some in baseball. If Dice-K does what he did last year, he will make it a three-some (if he can get his pitch counts and BB down this year, that will help), but he’s a little more touch-and-go. I like what I am hearing about Penny–if he returns to the pre-injury form of a couple years ago, he’ll be formidable, also. Put Wake on top of that, we’ll have a great rotation–even before Smoltz comes in! So even if one of them is not doing as well, we should be good to go with Smoltz in the rotation! If the middle-relief does its job, we’ll be in great shape! (That is an IF, though!) GO SOX!

dbenj…. I ‘m going to the Sox/O’s on the 14th here in Fort Lauderdale… too bad youre not coming to that one!! A Grrrrrrrrrrreat TIME WOULD BE HAD BY ALL!!!
Brian, oh my sweet Brian, you DO NOT want a picture of me in a bikini.. I dont think there is enough memory or pixels, or whatever it is you need for me in a bikini!!!! LOL REALLY LOUD! Oh BTW, for the moment, I cant blame my screw-ups on my blondness… I went red blonde last night. Lets see if it helps my brain!!!
On a serious note: I want to thank ALL of you for all of your prayers and kind words and thoughts for my Mom, for me and for my family.
Family… It sure feels that way here!! Thanks again, and I think I’m back here full time.

By ellenc on February 23, 2009 7:20 PM
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Julia, I, too would rather have a solid line up where everyone contributes, but heck if I’ve got a couple of big boppers, I wouldnt trade them away!! (unless of course one of them is Zazu!! lol)

By ellenc on February 23, 2009 7:36 PM
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Does anyone know what the plans are, if any, that Schilling has?? I think he’ll probably get the “itch”, no not THAT itch, the itch to play, around June or maybe the AllStar Break. That would be a good thing if he came back (if we have an injury)!!

Greg, there is a photo of Judge up on the web page. Who remembers the movie called The Illustrated Man? Well, Judge is The Illistrated Man. I have all the pictures up that I have received so far, except for Dbenjamin. Dbenjamin, I was unable to use the picture you sent me and the one on your web site was too small. Do you have another. Besides pictures, if you want to provide a little biographical data or other information, I’ll be glad to put it up. It’s a good chance to get to know each other a little.

I’m really excited about this year’s team. I really think they are going to be a lot of fun to watch and despite losing Zazu, I think this year’s version is a lot stronger. Additions of Penny, Smoltz and Masterson give the pitching staff a whole new dimension. There will be a lot of competition for innings for pitchers after Beckett, Lester and Dice-K. I think the lineup is very solid, from top to bottom. The first four hitters are likely to all hit over .300 and Drew, Lowell and Bay won’t be much below that. I think the double becomes the most lethal weapon for the Sox. Certainly, Papi and Bay will hit 30 or more HRs, and Youk will likely be close to that. Pedroia, Youk and Lowell are doubles machines and Ellsbury is likely to turn 60 or so walks and singles into doubles. If Papi decides to use the whole field, he’ll have a bunch as well. Tek is going to hit better than .220 and Lowrie with his experience from last season will also improve. It’s going to be exciting for sure.

Ian – I dedicated my #2 ranking on the latest Leader’s List to Mike Andrews from the Red Sox and I linked your article about Mike Andrews and the Rally Against Cancer on Opening Day. You can find it all on my blog.

I’ll see what I can do about another picture. Do you think it would help if I put that picture in a Power Point presentation, instead of the word document? I can then add some editorializing.

You bring up an interesting point with Papi. From everything I have heard and read in the past, Papi has always been encouraged to pull the ball, even in the face of the Shift. The FO, and particularly Tito have always indicated in what I have read, that the Sox would rather sacrifice some Papi BA for power numbers, as hitting to all fields will only get Papi some additional singles and perhaps doubles.

If the Sox begin to encourage Papi to hit to all fields, I’d have to wonder if that would be an unspoken admission that Papi has suffered a bit of a power outage. I wonder what others think about how Papi will be encouraged to hit this year.

moanin all….illustrated man here lol….i collected most of that ink while in the service in my younger days lol…..ill check my photos and see if i have a pic from a recent sox game….. im so ready for the play ball comment im ready to burst…..a complete pitching staff and a well rounded line up with what looks like the deepest bench weve ever had…..id stilll like to go on record that sox 4-5 pitchers will have more wins than the yanks 1-2 of sabathia and burnett…..i also think bay (in a sox lineup and half the year in fenway) will lead the sox in homers and rbis…….if your smart theo sign him now before he costs you 15 mill a yr……..the only dissappointment i have this yr is that the sox didnt make a deal for teagarden….but that could still be on the stove so we will see…..oh yeah did u hear that drew will miss 4-6 weeks cause his hair hurts…..not sure which hair but im sure its serious….have a wonderful day…..judge

I think with Ortiz it all depends on the situation and who is on the hill. A tough lefty, perhaps holding back and going the other way would do the trick. When he sends some deep flies into the r.f. seats we don’t complain about him trying too pull everything, I know I don’t. It sounds like his wrist is fine and that should generate some good bat speed and the rest will take care of itself.

Agree very much with Garry and Ellsbury turing those singles/B.B. into doubles. I am expecting Ellsbury too hit over .300 in 2009! In 2008 Ellsbury played his first full season in the big leagues. It ended on a sour note because the Rays owned him in the playoffs.

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